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Flooding

1. River Flooding

   • LEDC: Pakistan 2010
     • Causes: monsoon depression over the Bay of Bengal, crossed India and reached Pakistan. Heavy monsoon rains created the worst flood since 1929
     • Impacts
       • 20 million people made homeless, affected 14 million of 180 million people, killed 1,600 people
       • loss of cotton crop caused $1.8bn damage to economy, 17 million acres of farmland underwater
       • 23% of crops destroyed, loss of habitats and breeding grounds, 62000 litres of petroleum and 44300 litres of diesel pollution
     • Management
       • UN launched an emergency aid appeal for $459m
       • Oxfam helped over 200,000 people trapped by the floods
       • UNESCO launched a project with the government of Japan to upgrade flood broadcasting and early warning systems and conduct risk mapping along the Indus river
   • MEDC: Australia 2011
     • Causes: the combination of La Nina and the monsoon rains
     • Impacts
       • 1,000 people in Queensland evacuated, 35 dead and over 70 missing, 200,000 people affected, electricity shut off in CBD from 07:00 affecting 10,000 homes and businesses
       • damage expected to reach £650m, closed roads ports and disrupted agriculture coal and transport
       • vast areas of farmland underwater, fragile marine life and corals under threat from floods rushing toxic sediment into the Great Barrier reef
     • Management
       • more than 55,000 volunteers registered to help clean up, the Government will modify the Natural Disaster lied and Recovery Arrangements and force the states to take up disaster insurance

2. Coastal Flooding

   • LEDC: Asian Tsunami 2004
     • Causes: Indio-Australian plate subducting below the Eurasian plate- caused an earthquake over magnitude 9
     • the Tsunami was less than 1m high and up to 800km/hour
     • Impacts
       • 250,000 died, 2 million left homeless, 13 countries affected
       • 1000s of holidays bungalows destroyed in Thailand, Islands reliant on tourism and fishing e.g. The Maldives, had to rebuild their industries
       • solid waste and water debris, rapid clean up meant dumping of waste and burning, destroyed coral reefs mangrove forests and seaweed beds
       • Management
         • around £7bn pledge in aid within 6 months
         • governments affected are working to create warning systems
   • MEDC: New Orleans 2005
     • Management
       • relief camps created for shelter with food and water, promote individual responsibility- helps to strengthen homes against storms, new levees and huge tidal gates and restoration of wetlands, $50bn aid from Government
     • Impacts
       • 1 million people made homeless and 1,200 drowned, looting was common, conditions were unhygienic with a shortage of food and water, tourism centres were very badly affected
       • agricultural production was damaged by flooding, cotton and sugar-cane crops flattened
       • beach erosion, 217 sq. miles of land lost, forced to close 16 National Parks, 26 million litres of oil spills, sewage and toxic chemicals polluting the water sources
     • Causes: low pressure weather system strengthened to become a tropical storm and then a hurricane